BENI disappoints fans at Anime Expo AX 2010 in LA

Fan report:Panel:First of all, her management is made up of Nazis which I guess I should have expected. No common people pictures (though I did manage to sneak in two crappy ones), no asking questions before they "approve" them, no physical contact with BENI, etc etc etc. I had planned to ask BENI to sing something on the spot but I was told no.

Anyways, as for BENI herself, she did seem kind of stuck up. When asked what her favorite anime was, she answered "I knew I was going to be asked that" in a very irritated, exasperated way. She didn't seem too happy to be there and especially seemed disdainful of the silent crowd (more on that later). I definitely saw a lot of the "bitchy" mannerisms a friend pointed out: head tilts, dismissive glances, and pursed lips abound. Then again, I couldn't exactly blame her for being pissed off. If some sweaty fat nerd asked me what my favorite fruit was, I wouldn't give him a very nice answer either.

Now for the crowd...It was clear that more than 90% of the near-empty room had no clue who BENI was. There seemed to be more press, who were confused at the lack of attention of an "A-list Japanese pop star", than actual attendees. Most of the actual attendees seemed to be there because they: 1). Wanted to reserve a seat for AKB48 (the next panel), 2). Sheer curiosity/boredom, or 3). Had fallen asleep in the room the night before like a homeless bum and had just woken up. The atmosphere of the panel was silent, dead, and awkward. I can't count the amount of times the host had to step in to ask something just to fill the silence.

Highlights of the panel: -BENI decided to cut her hair after she was playing on some iPhone app and thought it looked cute.-Wikipedia is wrong. She's a sociology major.-No one on her staff knows English. If she wants to make an English version of her website, she'd have to translate it herself. -The "Call Me Beep Me" Kim Possible music video is emberassing for her to watch. Can't blame her.-Her favorite fruit is mango......The rest of the questions seemed to be pretty basic. I'm sure a full transcript/video is out there somewhere.

Autograph Signing:Not very long and I'm sure after 10 minutes it was deserted (leaving poor BENI looking bored for 50min). I talked around and most of them seemed to be newly converted sheep. Only one guy actually knew who she was before the Con.

When I finally got to meet her, I told her that I loved "Kiss Kiss Kiss". This actually got her to stop and look up (with a pleasantly surprised expression) because "Kiss Kiss Kiss" was one of the songs not mentioned on the booklet. She thanked me in return and asked me if I was going to attend her the concert. I told her I wasn't (to a sad look that was clearly mourning the loss of $30) and she told me "maybe next time" and then that was pretty much it.

Throughout our brief but pleasant conversation, BENI seemed to be perfectly polite and friendly. She even seemed kind of happy when talking to maybe but that may have been just because she could tell I actually knew shit about her.

Or maybe I was the only one who was outgoing enough to actually talk to her *shrugs*.

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I need to remember to stop saying stuff like that, too...it's pretty rude to anyone of German descent dealing with the stereotypes, and to anyone with relatives who were victims of any of the ickiness that went on in WWII. It's just become so commonplace in speech (in America, at least), that a lot of people don't think twice about drawing the [extremely exaggerated] comparison. :\

I didn't even know that it was such a common word in the US o.O Well.. I've only been there on holiday twice, so I can't say :D

But growing up in Germany you can't not think of WWII when hearing these words, because we grow up with history classes where we have the WWII subject every two years (I even had to write my final school exams about it ~.~) and it is often done in a very apologetic way, because the Germans still feel a big guilt and this is strongly given on to the next generations..

I think this is something that one can only understand who grew up in Germany :D

It's common in a joking sense. It takes the place of the words "strict," "demanding," and other such variations -- though it depends on the person in question. I find that if someone actually uses the word in real life, they sound like a whiny little shit and no one takes them seriously :D